


Breathing and Cadence

by KimliPan



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Firelord Zuko, M/M, Post canon, Pre-Established Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-15
Updated: 2013-01-15
Packaged: 2017-11-25 14:29:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimliPan/pseuds/KimliPan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko can’t sleep, so he practices his forms in the throne room; Sokka gets lonely and needy and comes to find him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathing and Cadence

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a secret Santa gift for firelord-hotpants on tumblr from the avatarsecretsanta Tumblr exchange. Link to the fic on tumblr: http://onceandfuturekimli.tumblr.com/post/40564947626/fic-breathing-and-cadence-for-firelord-hotpants

Zuko took in a deep breath as he fell into form.  Step, punch, step, punch; his breathing and cadence brought him in a broad circle round the center of the throne room.  Life wasn’t any less stressful now that he was Fire Lord – in fact, it had only become more complicated since his ascension.  He was standing with his legs apart and arms outstretched, palms facing the ceiling, when Sokka entered.  Of course he heard it, but he kept his focus on his form.

Sokka took advantage of the moment to watch Zuko’s body synchronize with his energy.  His eyes were on the Fire Lord’s broad, toned shoulders, but they roved all around and eventually rested on the rhythm of the way his breath filled his throat and made his adams apple stand out beneath his stark jaw line.  Zuko came into age better than the rest of them so far, other than Sokka, though he wasn’t one to boast.

His feet made soft clunks as he crossed the throne room to sit on Zuko’s throne.

“You couldn’t pick anywhere else?” Zuko asked in a flare, standing upright now, form abandoned.  His lips made a tight line as he watched Sokka expectantly, but the other man just made himself comfortable in the Fire Lord’s chair, resting one foot over the arm while the other was on the main seat.

“No, thank you though,” Sokka said.  He smirked and rolled his head back, watching Zuko out of the corner of his eye.  “I’m pretty comfy here.”

“It’s not there for you to be comfortable.”  With a huff, he crossed the room and stood before Sokka.  “What are you doing here anyway?  You should be in bed.”  Sokka’s smirk broadened at the mention of bed and he looked up at the man hovering over him.  “What?  Don’t look at me like that!”

Sokka put his feet down and hunched over, elbows on his knees as he looked up at his Fire Lord.  “Of course not, your Highness,” he said, bowing his head in faux-fealty.  He moved to stand and placed his hands on Zuko’s chest; he immediately deflated.  “I did mean to offend, though, so I guess I won’t bother apologizing.”

Sighing, Zuko put his hands on Sokka’s waist.  “I couldn’t sleep,” he admitted, heat welling in the tips of his ears.

“I noticed.”  Without much effort, Sokka turned Zuko around and seated him in his throne.  He kept his hands on Zuko’s shoulders and leaned over, smirking with his face inches from Zuko’s.  “You left me all by myself in that stupidly big Fire Lord bed.  How am I supposed to fill it up all by myself, you know?  It’s just rude.”

“But I—“

“Inconsiderate, Zuko.”  Sokka stood upright.  “Cruel.  Just plain mean.  You really haven’t changed.”

Zuko looked up from the throne.  “You know it’s treason to stand over me like that,” he said partly cross though mostly teasing.  He learned to banter from Sokka after years of self-imposed coldness; it was still tough to get a hold of, and Sokka sometimes made fun of him for being bad at it, but it was fun.  “I could have you arrested.”

“Yes, you’re absolutely right, your Fire-ness, sire,” Sokka crooned sycophantically as he moved over Zuko and straddled his lap.

“What are you doing?!” His hands hurried to Sokka’s chest to push him off, but Sokka’s hands had found a spot on his shoulders to latch onto and he had no intention of moving.

He leaned forward over him so that all his weight was on the Fire Lord’s chest and he frowned, his calm, cool sensuality dissolved into a pout.  “Come on, Zuko, you’ve hardly paid me any attention at all the past few days!”   Zuko hesitated and stopped pushing on Sokka’s chest, so Sokka continued.  “You’re always busy, and when you’re not, you’re too stressed out to spend time with me, and damn it, Zuko, I’m only human.”

A moment of silence nestled between them where Zuko shifted beneath Sokka, looking up and aside and anywhere but at Sokka’s face, while Sokka watched Zuko’s eyes.  “It’s not my fault,” he finally responded once Sokka’s shoulders began to slump.  “I’ve got a lot to do, I’m the—“

“Yeah, yeah, you’re the Fire Lord, I get it.”  Sokka licked his lips and sighed; he began to pull back so he could get up, but Zuko stopped him by holding onto his forearms. 

His lips were taught in a line pushed to the side and he looked to Sokka for a bit of encouragement before asking, “Have I really been ignoring you?”  He wanted to say he didn’t think so, but how could he disagree?  He probably had ignored him.  With all the meetings and audiences and ceremonies, it was easy to lose days, weeks, even months, without realizing how much time had gone by.  It was probably just as easy to let Sokka slip past without noticing as it was the cycle of the sun and the moon.  Sokka pursed his lips in thought as Zuko tried to think himself through this, but the thoughtfulness didn’t last long; his semi-pout slipped into a smirk and he leaned back forward, sliding his hands onto either side of Zuko’s neck.

“What’s it to you?” he asked.  “How would you make it up to me if I said yes?”  He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Zuko’s, grinding his hips forward.  Zuko blushed deeply and turned his head aside, which only served to give Sokka clear access to his neck; Sokka took full advantage.  As he pressed his lips against the bare skin, his hands moved down and pushed open Zuko’s robes.  “You owe me pretty big,” he teased, nipping at his earlobe. 

“Not here,” Zuko whispered as he stirred beneath his lover.  “I sit in this throne before my people.  I can’t—“

“That’s the fun in it!” he said.  “Think of it – it’s like you’re claiming this place.  All those lords and nobles and generals or whatever, they’ll stand there in all their obnoxious pomp and glory, and they’ll have no idea of the sheer _indignity_.”  He laughed and ran his hands over Zuko’s chest.  “And anyway, it’s _your_ throne.  You’rethe _Fire Lord_.  Youcan do whatever you _want_ in it.” 

Zuko let a hot breath out through his nose as Sokka’s hands warmed his and his words riled him.  “It’s not right,” he argued, albeit pathetically – even more so as he pressed his face into Sokka’s shoulder – but he regained his mind and pushed on Sokka’s chest so that he could look him in the eye.  “Not here,” he said more firmly.  “I can’t.”

Sokka whined in response.  “We could just fool around a little,” he pleaded.  “A few makeouts?”   He licked his lips and touched noses, slowly moving himself into a kiss, which Zuko reacted to by easing back in the throne.  Sokka decided to push the boundaries by opening Zuko’s robes all the way, exposing the entirety of his chest.  His fingertips brushed the Fire Lord’s nipples while his thumbs massaged his ribs.  “I’ll stop if you want, but…” He trailed off as Zuko silenced him by kissing him again.

There was more heat between them now, even more so as Zuko grabbed onto Sokka’s sides, holding him close, while Sokka ground his hips into Zuko, making him groan and bite Sokka’s lip.  “You’re such an ass.”

“I know,” Sokka said, their lips still pressed together.  He licked Zuko’s upper lip.  “That’s why you love me.”

“Show me some respect,” Zuko said suddenly, his voice authoritative and stern.  There was a trace, this tiniest hint really, of a smirk tugging at Zuko’s lips; it was barely there, and gone quickly, but Sokka knew Zuko well enough to see it clear as day.  “My subjects kneel before their Fire Lord.”

Without hesitation, Sokka bowed his head and rose from Zuko’s lap, descending to his knees while his hands trailed down Zuko’s chest and came to rest on his thighs.  “Of course, your Majesty,” he purred, tugging at the tie at Zuko’s waist.  Zuko spread his legs, though he stopped Sokka’s hands by pushing them back. 

“Letting you in would only be rewarding your insolence,” he warned, his heart racing as he wondered how long he could play along for; he was starting to feel nervous, like he’d gone too far.  Joking about lording this kind of power would be fine for anyone else, but Zuko actually had that power.  It made him guilty.  “I’m sorry,” he murmured before he could stop himself.

“No, Zuko, come on, it’s okay,” Sokka said quickly, taking Zuko’s hands so he could intertwine their fingers.  “You’re doing fine, you didn’t upset me.”  He learned how to recognize Zuko’s mood swings and could easily spot wavering confidence.  He frowned, disappointed both that Zuko had a hard time enjoying himself like this, and also that now he had to be patient and sensitive when he’d already gotten himself worked up.  “Let’s just go back to bed.  Come with me.”

Zuko nodded, pulling Sokka up as he stood up.  Sokka bumped their shoulders together.  “It’s your fault I’m in the mood.”

“You can’t accuse me of that.  You started this.”

“Ffff.”  Sokka grinned and elbowed Zuko.  “You with your stupid arms and your dumb dance practice.”

Zuko rolled his eyes, but leaned up against Sokka all the same.  “How many times do I have to tell you, it’s not _dance practice._ ”

“Yeah, yeah, right.” 

Zuko punched Sokka’s arm and walked on by himself, though he was smiling as he did.  He never thought they’d last, if he had to say; Sokka’s so ridiculous all the time, and Zuko prefers take matters seriously.  But Sokka was more sensitive than he let on, and Zuko really appreciated the way Sokka could lighten any mood and make Zuko feel less embarrassed about himself or his station. 

“Hey, that hurt!”  His thumped the floor as he hurried to catch up.  “You’re such a tyrant!  I feel oppressed.” 

Neither of them was quite sure how teasing like that managed to reassure him, but Sokka’s blatant disregard certainly helped him keep a level head – when it didn’t make him blow up in rage, at least.

\--------

**Bonus because I couldn’t not give you smut after coming so close.  If Zuko hadn’t said no to sex on the throne and they managed to get past the foreplay:**

Sokka slowly pushed himself down onto Zuko, feeling as though electricity was pulsing through him as Zuko’s cock slowly filled him.  He put one hand on the arm of the throne while his other held onto Zuko’s shoulder and he steadied himself very slowly.  Zuko began to move up into him, but Sokka stopped him with a hand on his chest; he shook his head.  “Not yet, give me a minute,” he breathed.  “It’s been a while.”

Zuko nodded, instead distracting himself as he waited by kissing Sokka’s neck, breathing hot air through his nose which soothed Sokka and helped him relax.  “Take your time,” he whispered, though he was relieved when Sokka nodded and immediately began to slowly rock his hips.  Zuko gave a deep groan as Sokka let out a shaky breath and grinned at him. 

His hand on Zuko’s shoulder moved back to the other armrest so he could hold himself up better over Zuko, but he found as he continued rocking his hips, with all his weight pushing him down onto Zuko like this, his grip was weak and he elbows slowly began to cave.  Zuko compensated by slouching slightly and holding onto Sokka’s hips.  The new angle and shifting of their weight served to deepen the heat and heighten the electricity between them.  Sokka let out a moan much louder than he meant to and tilted his head back, grinning wildly.

Looking back down, he asked Zuko, “Are you embarrassed?”

Zuko shook his head and looked away, but Sokka reached out and grabbed either side of his face, forcing him to look back.  “It embarrasses you-“ his hips rocked “-to know-“ he moaned “-I love you like this.”  Zuko was probably about to argue, but Sokka leaned over and kissed him, still moving his hips, breathing out hard through his nose while they both found the perfect balance of breathing and cadence between them. 

 Energy transferred between them, from Sokka’s mouth to Zuko’s groin to the pit of Sokka’s core while their entire bodies moved without being told.  Sokka glided from front to back while Zuko thrusted upward, hands everywhere from bony hips to firm asses to muscular shoulders and toned chests.  Zuko had let Sokka’s hair down – he always liked the way it looked – and twisted his fingers around it, pulling as he fought to keep himself from release.

One of Sokka’s hands moved between them as he grabbed onto his own length, eyes closed as the intensity of their rhythm brought him higher and higher outside himself.  “Fuck,” he muttered as he stroked himself, now caught up in too many sensations to hold himself back – but he didn’t have to.

The sight of Sokka like that – hair down, eyes shut, lips parted as he panted and cursed and held himself while his bare abs twitched, almost erratically, as if proof of Zuko inside of him, where the sensation not already enough.  Grabbing Sokka’s hips, he groaned and gave a few hard, final thrusts before his body took over and he dug his nails into Sokka’s hips. 

The sudden heat welling inside of Sokka like that made him push all his weight down, forcing Zuko as deep inside of him as he could go.  As the heat swelled and Zuko released, Sokka stroked himself faster and felt himself nearer release.  Like Zuko, he couldn’t hold back.  He shuddered and leaned forward, resting his weight on top of Zuko, and exhaled very slowly.  As he came down from his high and the room chilled him, he laughed quietly and nipped at the skin on Zuko’s neck.  “Looks like I left a mark earlier.”

Zuko’s face turned red, but he just let his arms continue to rest on Sokka’s hips while he too slowly regained his breath.  “Shut up.”

“What are you gonna tell everyone?”

“Shut up,” Zuko said again.  But Sokka reached up and poked the mark, and Zuko smacked the hand away and said, “I won’t tell them anything.”

“They’ll know anyway,” Sokka said.  He kissed it.  “It’ll remind the ladies to keep their paws off.”

Zuko rolled his eyes, then closed them and heaved a sigh.  “Now we have to clean up,” he said darkly.  “You didn’t think this through at all.”

“Hey, you could have said no!  But nooo, horny Fire Lord Zuko wanted sex on the throne.  You’re such a pervert, Zuko.”

To both of their surprise, Zuko actually laughed at that. “I hate you,” he said, holding Sokka a little more tightly.  They could stay like this for just another moment, and then they’d clean up.


End file.
